Sun to partial shade. Prefers moist, well-drained, fertile soils, pH adaptable. In the wild found in moist flats, slopes, and banks of rivers. Can be maintained in a hedge.

Hardy to USDA Zone 5 Native range from Alaska to northern California,
east to Montana.

Western Red Cedar has been called the "corner stone of northwest coast Indian culture". Its wood is easily split and rot resistant and was used to make important cultural items including, dugout canoes, paddles, house planks, baskets, spears, arrow shafts, and many other implements. The bark was stripped from trees in the spring, hung up to dry, and then beaten until it separated into layers ready for making baskets, ropes, and mates. Red Cedar was considered an excellent fuel, especially for drying fish, because it burns with little smoke (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Fastigiata - narrow columnar habit, originated in France 1867, apparently rare in North America but the name is sometimes misapplied to Hogan (Jacobson, 1996).

Hogan - compact, dense narrow habit, common in Washington and Oregon; sometimes, incorrectly, called Fastigiata. Named after Hogan Road of Gresham, Oregon.

Sunshine - foliage bright gold on the side facing the sun, may have an unattractive bronze color in winter. Apparently similar or the same as Canadian Gold.

Virescens - slightly narrower habit than species, foliage bright green all year. Introduced by Mitch nursery of Aurora, Oregon in about 1990; the cultivar name is Latinized, although this once common procedure has been invalid since 1959 (Jacobson, 1996).